rhodium plating gold or silver jewelry gives your pieces of bright white finish that shines beautifully a member of the platinum group of metals rhodium will not tarnish like silver and is also hypoallergenic rhodium plating is a great choice for refinishing an old piece of jewelry or simply giving the best possible shine before plating ensure great results by polishing the piece to a high luster rhodium plating will not hide scratches and surface imperfections in fact small scratches will only be more visible if not polished out remove any compounds and other soils by ultrasonic cleaning or similar means this is a very important step as any left over soil on the piece will inhibit adhesion of the plating solution the first activation bath is an electro cleaner solution heated to 150 degrees Fahrenheit use a steel a note attached to the positive lead of your rectifier attach the jewelry piece to the cathode wire on the negative lead adjust the voltage to 5 volts and immerse it in an electrolytic cleaner for 1 minute hydrogen gas bubbles will form rapidly rinse the piece thoroughly in distilled water only tap water contains minerals that will contaminate the plating process finish the activation process by immersing the piece in a room-temperature acid bath for one to two minutes the acid removes any lingering traces of electro cleaner solution and completes activation this surface activation will promote an outstanding adhesion of rhodium during the plating bath after the acid dip rinse the item again in distilled water if you are rhodium plating sterling you will need to first pre plate a barrier layer because both the silver and the copper and sterling will contaminate the rhodium solution in this demonstration we will pre plate a nickel strike onto the piece by heating nickel solution to one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit attach the handling wire to the negative lead and immerse the piece for a minute or until desired coverage is achieved make sure to rinse thoroughly in distilled water after the nickel strike then give the piece another acid dip and rinse before the final plating you can also pre plate a sterling piece with gold or palladium instructions for both can be found in the Midas plating guidebook gold pieces do not need a barrier layer and can be rhodium plated directly after activation whichever metals you are rhodium plating prepare the final solution by attaching a flattened ice titanium anode to the positive lead of the rectifier and immersing it in rhodium solution heated between 90 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit set the voltage between 1 and 3 volts and attach the handling wire to the negative cathode immerse the piece in the solution for 30 seconds to 3 minutes plate the piece right after rinsing from the acid bath immediate plating after activation will ensure an outstanding metallic bond on a molecular level and a brilliant white shine on your final product here's a final tip rhodium plating solution can become contaminated rather easily so make sure to keep the bottle covered when not in use and always store any chemical or plating solution according to the directions in the MSDS for more information on electroplating jewelry contact Rio Grande today you